"It's a new age letdown in my face"
Beck Hanson is a musical genius. And I don't use the term lightly. Beck continues to amaze me, no matter how many times I listen to his stuff. Too many people heard his first album and got a chuckle out of it. I think that "Mellow Gold" was a little too clever for it's own good. A couple of albums down the road he really hit a groove and let loose...
He has a knack for nonsensical lyrics that just work. His sense of rhythm inside of words is impressive. The moods he sets in songs are crystal clear, just listen to the above quoted, "Nitemare Hippy Girl," or perhaps "Truckdriven' Neighbors Downstairs" to get an idea. His albums also tend to be sonic wonderlands, put them on a good system and a whole new world opens up. he is just as conscious of how sound impacts the experience as he is with the music.
More than anything else though, it is his feel for different types of music that amazes me. Beck covers a lot of musical ground in his songs. This was really brought out for me when I heard his duet with Emmy Lou Harris on the Gram Parsons tribute album (Return of the Grievous Angel). Their version of "Sin City" is straight up, old school country. On his albums, he is able to use different types of popular songs to amazing effect. Yes, there is the general slacker rock vibe, but he borrows from a lot of other genres as well. Sometimes it's to be ironic, but more often he uses samples to blend and synthesize with what he's doing. It's an amazing thing, we hear the new synthesis, but we remember the original at the same time. Most people use samples and snippets as just another noise or an ironic counterpoint, Beck is different.
"Rental Car" off of Guerro is a great example. He manages to combine that early 70's vibe (which I wrote about here), a driving, fuzzed out guitar riff reminiscent of the grunge era, and a yodel inspired "LALALA" interlude. That lala bit is especially impressive because he uses all three. I can hear and identify all of them, but they come together in a decidedly "go-go" vibe. It's an eclectic masterpiece, it's what he does...
And to get a feel for his lyrical talent listen to this. It reminds me more than a little of some girls I met up in Ithaca...
He has a knack for nonsensical lyrics that just work. His sense of rhythm inside of words is impressive. The moods he sets in songs are crystal clear, just listen to the above quoted, "Nitemare Hippy Girl," or perhaps "Truckdriven' Neighbors Downstairs" to get an idea. His albums also tend to be sonic wonderlands, put them on a good system and a whole new world opens up. he is just as conscious of how sound impacts the experience as he is with the music.
More than anything else though, it is his feel for different types of music that amazes me. Beck covers a lot of musical ground in his songs. This was really brought out for me when I heard his duet with Emmy Lou Harris on the Gram Parsons tribute album (Return of the Grievous Angel). Their version of "Sin City" is straight up, old school country. On his albums, he is able to use different types of popular songs to amazing effect. Yes, there is the general slacker rock vibe, but he borrows from a lot of other genres as well. Sometimes it's to be ironic, but more often he uses samples to blend and synthesize with what he's doing. It's an amazing thing, we hear the new synthesis, but we remember the original at the same time. Most people use samples and snippets as just another noise or an ironic counterpoint, Beck is different.
"Rental Car" off of Guerro is a great example. He manages to combine that early 70's vibe (which I wrote about here), a driving, fuzzed out guitar riff reminiscent of the grunge era, and a yodel inspired "LALALA" interlude. That lala bit is especially impressive because he uses all three. I can hear and identify all of them, but they come together in a decidedly "go-go" vibe. It's an eclectic masterpiece, it's what he does...
And to get a feel for his lyrical talent listen to this. It reminds me more than a little of some girls I met up in Ithaca...
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